{"podcast":{"title":"Real Leadership","slug":"real-leadership-6416273","podcast_index_feed_id":6416273,"rss_url":"https://feed.podbean.com/real-leadership/feed.xml","website_url":"https://real-leadership.podbean.com","image_url":"https://pbcdn1.podbean.com/imglogo/image-logo/16325038/Real-Leadership-PodBean.jpg","author":"real-leadership","episode_count":52,"summary":"Welcome to REAL Leadership, the podcast that takes you on a journey behind the scenes of some of the world’s most successful companies. Produced by The О̄nin Group and hosted by COO Jim Weaver, our show is dedicated to exploring what it truly means to be a leader in industries that make, move and process. In each episode, Jim sits down with C-level executives to discuss their experiences and insights on leadership, as well as the challenges and opportunities that come with leading in dynamic environments. Our guests come from a range of industries, including logistics and manufacturing, and offer real stories and actionable advice to inspire you to take your leadership to the next level. If you’re a seasoned executive or aspiring leader looking to sharpen your leadership skills and stay ahead of the game, then this is the podcast for you. Join us as we dive deep into the world of REAL Leadership.","last_synced_at":"2026-06-10T04:19:20.802550+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/real-leadership-6416273"},"episode":{"title":"Katie Distler, Chief Sustainability Officer at Technimark, Real Leadership","slug":"katie-distler-chief-sustainability-officer-at-technimark-real-leadership","published_at":"2026-04-07T13:30:01+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/real-leadership-6416273/katie-distler-chief-sustainability-officer-at-technimark-real-leadership","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/real-leadership-6416273","url":"https://real-leadership.podbean.com/e/katie-distler-chief-sustainability-officer-at-technimark-real-leadership/","audio_url":"https://mcdn.podbean.com/mf/web/972xnhiue9mmss3w/RL_S03_E05_Katie_Distler9wnou.mp3","summary":"How does a lifelong conservationist and fly fisher end up leading sustainability for a global plastics manufacturing company? Katie Distler didn’t stumble into the role. She swam upstream to get there. Katie is Chief Sustainability Officer at Technimark, a global leader in injection molded plastics for healthcare, consumer, and industrial markets with close to 5,000 employees across the U.S., Mexico, Europe, and China. For 25 years, she has turned purpose into action—from her earliest days catching snakes and surveying birds for a forest products company, to managing a global conservation portfolio at the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, to spending eight years at the Turner Family Foundation where she ultimately served as Executive Director. What’s remarkable isn’t the pivot from conservation to plastics. It’s the philosophy that connects every chapter: to make real change, you have to understand the business you’re trying to transform. At Technimark, Katie drives the company’s sustainability strategy across three pillars—people, planet, and product—with ambitious 2030 targets including a 42% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, zero waste to landfill across manufacturing sites, and ensuring 75% of consumer solutions are recyclable, reusable, or made from recycled materials. The company’s vertically integrated recycling subsidiary, Wellmark, processes nearly 60 million pounds of plastic a year. In this episode, we cover: How a love of wild places led to a career in the heart of manufacturing What Katie learned navigating Ted Turner’s multigenerational family boardroom—and why reading the room before you get to the room matters The presenter who froze in front of Ted Turner and the leadership lesson that stuck Why she chose a plastics company—and why the smarte…","meta_description":"How does a lifelong conservationist and fly fisher end up leading sustainability for a global plastics manufacturing company? Katie Distler didn’t stumble…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":2936,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/real-leadership-6416273/episodes/katie-distler-chief-sustainability-officer-at-technimark-real-leadership/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/real-leadership-6416273/katie-distler-chief-sustainability-officer-at-technimark-real-leadership.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}